Skin types / perfume types confusion

Hi,
I have been reading about how certain types of perfumes should ideally be used on certain skin types, (eg. orientals on brunettes, fresh florals on blondes). But I'm confused about something. One article says brunettes tend to have more oil in the skin so that the perfume lasts longer... why then use a full-on oriental, if a soft floral will last long anyway? And if this theory is correct then wouldn't a dry-skinned blonde then benefit more from using a powerful oriental than a flighty floral? And another thing, if a brunette has very pale skin, should she rather follow the guidelines for a blonde? If anyone knows of any good articles about this, please post the link! Thank you.

Re: Skin types / perfume types confusion

Hi there. I am a brunette (see my picture?) and I like florals in the summer and orientals in the winter. Or florientals, basically. I don't like wearing fruity scents. My sister is a brunette (I'm pointing this out because we share the same genes) and she hates orientals and florals. She wears fruity and fresh scents - lots of figs and citrus scents.

I don't think you can categorise scents into blondes and brunettes. I think that certain scents evoke certain images but there's no scientific basis for saying that blondes and brunettes have different skin types - if this is true then skin care brands would have started making skin care based on hair colour rather than skin type... also skin types vary within different ethnic categories. I believe that diet and climate are more of a factor than skin type - diet and climate can affect the way a scent acts when worn on the skin than anything else.

And don't forget personal taste!

BUT... if you're talking about what feelings and images certain scents evoke, then that's a different story. Chypres are often stereotyped as "working women's perfumes" or a "professional perfumes" or even "intelligent" perfumes while sweet scents come off as "young" but these are also cultural perceptions.

I think if an SA or a perfumer tells you that a certain scent would smell great on a brunette, it is because he/she imagines that to be the scent of some mysterious dark-haired femme walking down a wet alley in a noir film - BUT Elizabeth Taylor is a brunette and I don't imagine she was wearing Samsara in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" (not a noir film.) I imagine she was wearing Fracas.

Re: Skin types / perfume types confusion

No truth to that beauty myth. People like rules because it makes decisions easier. The only way to decide which perfume smells best on your skin is to get a bunch of samples, take them home, and test them (a little bit of each on different parts of your arms.) After a few hours of wearing, which smells best on you?

Re: Skin types / perfume types confusion

Originally Posted by purplebird7

No truth to that beauty myth. People like rules because it makes decisions easier. The only way to decide which perfume smells best on your skin is to get a bunch of samples, take them home, and test them (a little bit of each on different parts of your arms.) After a few hours of wearing, which smells best on you?

Yes, Purplebird, this simplifies everything. :-)

If it smells good on you, wear it. If it doesn't, it just doesn't suit your chemistry. :-)

Re: Skin types / perfume types confusion

I think dry/oily skin, diet, and other factors, maybe even skin pH, have more to do with how a scent wears. Those old blonde/brunette/redhead rules are passe. I would love to know, though, why certain notes or components smell great on some people and horrible on others. For example, I tried Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune for the first time the other day, and it turned into something awful on my skin. It does that on many other people, too, I've noted since reading reviews, while still other people can wear this fragrance beautifully. I would really love to know more about how/why that happens. It's fascinating.